Delivery device for a duplicating machine or the like



Se t. 13, 1966 c. v. SCHNQB ELEN 3,272,504

DELIVERY DEVICE FOR A DUPLICATING MACHINE OR THE LIKE Filed March 25, 1964 2 SheetsSheet 1 29 I V I l 25 97 99 I03 Fig, Z (401. 1/. 5CHNOEBELE/V firrozzmsvs Se t. 13, 1966 c. v. SCHNOBELEN 3,272,504

DELIVERY DEVICE FOR A DUPLICATING MACHINE OR THE LIKE Filed March 23, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 8

//VV/V7'0P CARL Saws/05554 EN BWM/ ATTQPMEKS United States Patent 3,272,504 DELIVERY DEVICE FOR A DUPLICATING MACHHNE OR THE LIKE Carl V. Schnoebelen, 408 E. Gray St, Des Moines, Iowa Filed Mar. 23, 1964, Ser. No. 353,998 13 Claims. (Cl. 27168) This invention relates to a delivery device and more particularly to a delivery device for a duplicating machine or the like.

Duplicating machines are widely used in the printing industry. The majority of duplicating machines utilize a master copy which has been prepared and inserted into the machine. The impressions on the master copy are transferred to individual sheets of paper in rapid succession through the use of inks, duplicating fluids or the like. These sheets of paper are then delivered to a delivery tray or the like. The sheets of paper become damp during the printing phase of the operation and as a consequence have a tendency to stick together. This stickiness causes a very serious problem in that the sheets of paper tend to ball up or clog up at the delivery end of the duplicating machine as they are being delivered to the delivery tray. This clogging harms the finished product and as a result much waste is encountered. Further, as the paper sheets clog up they tend to back up into the machine itself which requires that the machine be shut down and cleaned out.

The clogging tending of the paper sheets requires that an operator be present at all times to prevent the same.

Therefore, a principal object of this invention is to provide a delivery device for a duplicating machine which insures uniform delivery of printed sheets to a delivery tray or receptacle.

A further object of this invention is to provide a delivery device for a. duplicating machine which can be installed on a variety of different duplicating machines.

A further object of this invention is to provide a delivery device which can be installed on a variety of different duplicating machines with a minimum amount of fabrication to the duplicating machine.

A further object of this invention is to provide a delivery device which is comprised of relatively few moving parts.

A further object of this invention is to provide a delivery device which does not require an operator to be present during the operation of the device.

A further object of this invention is to provide a delivery device which is of relatively simple structure.

A further object of this invention is to provide a delivery device which is economical to manufacture, durable in use and refined in appearance.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

This invention consists in the construction, arrangements, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, specifically pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the delivery device installed on a duplicating machine:

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the delivery device;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the spring hold down portion of the delivery device;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the device as seen on line 4-4 of FIG. 1 at an enlarged scale;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the device as seen on line 5-5 of FIG. 1 at an enlarged scale;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the device as seen on line 66 of FIG. 5 at an enlarged scale;

31,272,504 Patented Sept. 13, 1966 FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the device as seen on line 77 of FIG. 2 at an enlarged scale; and

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the device as seen on line 8-8 of FIG. 7 at an enlarged scale.

The numeral 10 generally designates a duplicating machine having a delivery end 11, delivery tray 13, drive shaft 15 and fly wheel 17 on the outer end of drive shaft 15. A pair of spacer blocks 19 are secured to the upper surface of delivery tray 13 by any convenient method and support thereon a delivery device generally designated by the numeral 21.

Delivery device 21 is comprised of a fiat base member 23 secured to and extending between side members 25 and 27. A roller 29 is rotatably secured to and extends between side members 25 and 27 adjacent their outer end with respect to duplicating machine 10. A roller 31 is rotatably secured to and extends between side members 25 and 27 adjacent their inner end. It will be noted in FIG. 5 that base member 23 terminates adjacent rollers 29 and 31 and has its upper surface on the same plane with the uppermost portion of rollers 29 and 31.

Roller 29 has a smooth peripheral surface while roller 31 has a plurality of ribs 33 on its periphery extending along a portion of its length. Roller 31 has a reduced diameter portion 35 at one of its ends and a portion of reduced diameter portion 35 is provided with teeth members 37 on the periphery thereof. The longitudinal axis of teeth members 37 extend parallel to the longitudinal axis of roller 31. G utwardly of teeth 37 is smooth portion 39 of reduced diameter portion 35.

A sleeve member 41 is rotatably mounted on roller 31 and embraces smooth portion 39 and has pivotally connected thereto by means of pin 43 a foot member 45. Foot member 45 has an arm 47 extending laterally therefrom to which is connected a spring 49. Spring 49 is connected at its other end to sleeve member 41 as illustrated in FIG. 7 and yieldably maintains foot member 45 in engagement with one of teeth 37.

A linkage arm 51 is pivotally connected to pin 43 at one of its ends and connected at its other end] to a second linkage arm 53 by means of bolts 55 extending through registering longitudinal slots provided in arms 51 and 53. A cam wheel assembly 57 is secured to the other end of arm 53 and is rotatably, eccentrically mounted on drive shaft 15 as illustrated in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6.

An elongated rod 59 is secured to and extends between side members 25 and 27 adjacent their inner ends and above base member 23. At least two collars 61 are rotatably mounted on rod 59 and are secured thereto by means of screw members 63 threadedly extending therein. Each of collars 61 have secured thereto a laterally extending arm member 65 which has an arcuate portion 67 on its outer end. An elongated finger member 69 constructed of spring steel or the like is connected to each of collars 61 by an arcuate portion 71 extending around rod 59 and under arm member 65. The lower end of finger member 69 engages the upper surface of base member 23.

A plurality of belts 73 extend around rollers 29, 31 and base member 23 and are tightened by means of belt tightener 75. Belt tightener 75 is comprised of an angular shaped rod 77 having one end thereof pivotally connected to side member 25 at a point below base member 23 and its other end secured to one end of a bracket 79 which has its other end pivotally secured to side member 27. A thumb screw 81 threadedly extends through a nut 83 secured to bracket 79 by welding or the like and engages a shoulder element 85 on the bottom surface of base member 23. A plurality of washer-like belt guides 87 are mounted on rod 77 to prevent any lateral movement of belts 73.

Secured to the upper surface of base member 23 at one side thereof is an angular bracket 89 having a collar 91 secured thereto by welding or the like. An elongated shaft 93 extends through collar 91 and is secured therein by means of screw 95 threadably extending inwardly into collar 91. It will be noted that shaft 93 is parallel to rollers 29 and 31. A pair of spaced apart brackets 97 are pivotally connected at their inner ends to the free end of shaft 93 by any convenient means and have an axle 99 rotatably extending through their outer ends parallel to shaft 93. Wheel members 101 and 103 are mounted on the ends of axle 99 and engage roller 29 as illustrated in FIG. 2. The numeral 105 generally designates a paper receptacle.

The normal method of operation is as follows: The delivery device 21 can be installed on a variety of different duplicating machines by simply mounting the device on the top of the existing delivery tray 13 with the use of spacer blocks 19. Cam wheel 57 is mounted on drive shaft 15 by any convenient method such as by cutting the shaft, mounting cam wheel 15 thereon and rejoining shaft 15. The longitudinal slots in linkage arms 51 and 53 permit adjustability of the linkage assembly thereby permitting the device to be fitted to a variety of duplicating machines With little or no fabrication.

After delivery device 21 has been installed as herein described the duplicating machine may be activated. Drive shaft will be rotating at a given rate. As illustrated in FIG. 4, one complete revolution of drive shaft 15 will cause cam wheel 57 to move from the position indicated by solid lines to the position indicated by dotted lines and then back to the first position again. Such a movement by cam wheel 57 will also cause longitudinal movement of linkage arms 51 and 53. As cam wheel 57 is moved to the position shown by dotted lines in FIG. 4, linkage arms 51 and 53 will also move towards drive shaft 15. The rearward movement of linkage arms 51 and 53 cause the upper end of sleeve member 41 to rotate rearwardly and the lower free end of foot member 45 to disengage from one of teeth 37, and move to the upper adjacent tooth member. It will be noted that spring 49 yieldably maintains foot member 45 in engagement with teeth 37. Therefore, when cam wheel 57 returns to the position indicated by a solid line in FIG. 4, the upper end of sleeve member 41 will rotate forwardly and in turn cause foot member 45 to rotate roller 31 due to the lower end of foot member 45 pushing against one of teeth 37. Rotation of roller 31 causes belts 73 to move also. There fore, for each revolution of drive shaft 15, foot member 45 will rotate roller 31 a distance equal to that between adjacent teeth 37.

As the printed paper is ejected from delivery end 11 of duplicating machine 10 the individual sheets will be placed on moving belts 73. Finger members 69 exert downward pressure on the sheets and thereby create a certain amount of pressure between the sheets of paper and belts 73. This pressure eliminates any possibility of slippage between belts 73 and the paper. The sheets of paper are delivered from duplicating machine 10 in rapid succession and are overlapped with the first delivered sheets being on the bottom and having their ends spaced very closely. The sheets of paper pass from beneath finger elements 69 and are carried beneath wheels 101 and 103. Wheels 101 and 103 maintain the sheets of paper on the device until substantially the entire length of the sheets have left the device. As the sheets of paper disengage from beneath wheels 101 and 103 they drop into any suitable receptacle 105.

The movement of belts 73 due to the rotation of roller 31 insures uniform delivery of the sheets of paper to receptacle 105 without any jamming or clogging. In effect, belts 73 are moved in rapid, short, and intermittent dist-ances due to the uniformly intermittent forward rotation of roller 31. This type of movement of belts 73 causes the sheets of paper to be evenly distributed thereon and to evenly convey the same to receptacle 105.

Because the device has relatively few moving parts maintenance will not be a problem. The device is completely foolproof and once started may be left to operate without the constant attention of the operator.

While the device works particularly well on a duplicating machine the device can also be used on any type of printing press having similar structural features as a duplicating machine.

Thus from the foregoing it can be seen that the device accomplishes at least all of its stated objectives.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my delivery device for a duplicating machine or the like without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. In a delivery device for a duplicating machine having a delivery end and a drive shaft,

a first roller member operatively secured to the duplicating machine adjacent its delivery end,

a second roller member operatively secured to the duplicating machine outwardly of said first roller member and delivery end of the duplicating machine,

said first and second roller members being parallel,

a belt means extending between said first and second roller members,

means operatively connecting the drive shaft and one of said first and second roller members for rotating said first and second roller members and said belt means,

and a sheet gripping means on the duplicating machine between said first and second roller members.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said means for rotating said first and second roller members and said belt means includes a spring loaded foot member engaging teeth on said first roller member.

3. In a delivery device for a duplicating machine having a delivery end, and a drive shaft,

21 delivery tray operatively secured to the duplicating machine outwardly of its delivery end,

a base member mounted on said delivery tray,

a first roller member rotatably mounted on one end of said base member,

a second roller member rotatably mounted on the other end of said base member,

a flexible belt means extending between said first and second roller members,

said first and second roller members being parallel to said drive shaft,

a plurality of teeth on one end of said first roller member on the periphery thereof,

a spring loaded foot member engaging said teeth on said first roller,

and means connected to said foot member and said drive shaft for operatively moving said foot member.

4. In a delivery device for a duplicating machine having a delivery end, a delivery tray, and a drive shaft,

a base member mounted on said delivery tray,

21 first roller member rotatably mounted on one end of said base member,

a reduced diameter portion on one end of said first roller member,

said reduced diameter portion having a plurality of teeth on the periphery thereof for a portion of its length,

a sleeve member rotatably embracing said reduced diameter portion and having an upper and lower end,

a foot member having one end pivotally secured to the upper end of said sleeve member and its other end in engagement with said teeth on said reduced diameter portion,

a spring secured at one of its ends to said foot member and at its other end to the lower end of said sleeve member,

a second roller member rotatably mounted on the other end of said base member,

a flexible belt means extending between said first and second roller members,

said first and second roller members being parallel to said drive shaft,

a cam wheel rotatably mounted on said drive shaft,

and means connecting said cam wheel and the upper end of said sleeve member for operatively moving said sleeve member and said foot member.

5. The device of claim 4 wherein a rotatable wheel means is pivotally secured to said base member and engages said second roller member.

6. The device of claim 4 wherein a belt tightening means is secured to the bottom surface of said base member and is comprised of an elongated, angular shaped member pivotally secured at one of its ends to one side of said base member and at its other end to the other side of said base member and means for moving said elongated, angular shaped member with respect to said base member.

7. In a delivery device for a duplicating machine having a delivery end, a delivery tray, and a drive shaft,

a base member mounted on said delivery tray,

a first roller member rotatably mounted on one end of said base member,

a reduced diameter portion on one end of said first roller member,

said reduced diameter portion having a plurality of teeth on the periphery thereof for a portion of its length,

a sleeve member rotatably embracing said reduced diameter portion and having an upper and lower end,

a foot member having one end pivotally secured to the upper end of said sleeve member and its other end in engagement with said teeth on said reduced diameter portion,

a spring secured at one of its ends to said foot member and at its other end to the lower end of said sleeve member,

a second roller member rotatably mounted on the other end of said base member,

a flexible belt means extending between said first and second roller members,

said first and second roller members being parallel to said drive shaft,

a cam wheel rotatably mounted on said drive shaft,

means connecting said cam wheel and the upper end of said sleeve member for operatively moving said sleeve member and said foot member,

an elongated rod secured to said base member and spaced above said first roller member,

and a plurality of elongated spring members secured to said elongated rod extending downwardly therefrom and engaging said base member.

8. In a delivery device for a duplicating machine having a delivery end and a drive shaft,

a delivery tray means operatively secured to the duplieating machine and having a first end positioned adjacent the delivery end of the duplicating machine and having a second end positioned outwardly therefrom,

a first roller member rotatably mounted on said first end of said delivery tray means,

a second roller member rotatably mounted on the second end of said delivery tray means,

a flexible belt means extending between said first and second roller members,

said first and second roller members being parallel to said drive shaft,

a plurality of teeth on one end of said first roller member on the periphery thereof,

a spring loaded foot member engaging said teeth on said first roller member,

an elongated rod secured to said delivery tray means and spaced above said first roller member,

a plurality of elongated spring members secured to said elongated rod extending downwardly and out- Wardly therefrom and engaging said delivery tray means,

and means connected to said foot member and said drive shaft for operatively moving said foot member.

9. The device of claim 8 wherein a rotatable Wheel means is pivotally secured to said delivery tray means and engages said second roller member.

14). In a delivery device for a machine having a delivery end and a drive shaft,

a delivery tray means operatively secured to the machine and having a first end positioned adjacent the delivery end of the machine and having a second end positioned outwardly therefrom,

a first roller secured to said delivery tray means adjacent its first end,

a second roller secured to said delivery tray means adjacent its second end and being parallel to said first roller,

a belt means extending between said first and second rollers,

and linkage means operatively connecting said first roller to the machine drive shaft, said linkage means causing said first and second rollers and said belt means to be intermittently moved.

11. The device of claim 10 wherein a rotatable wheel means is pivotally secured to said delivery tray means and engages said second roller member, said wheel means maintaining sheet members on said delivery tray means until the sheet members have substantially passed from said delivery tray means.

12. In a delivery device for a duplicating machine having a delivery end and a drive shaft,

a first roller member operatively secured to the duplicating machine adjacent its delivery end,

a second roller member operatively secured to the duplicating machine outwardly of said first roller member and delivery end of the duplicating machine,

said first and second roller members being parallel,

a belt means extending between said first and second roller members,

means operatively connecting the drive shaft and one of said first and second roller members. for rotating said first and second roller members and said belt means,

a sheet gripping means on the duplicating machine between said first and second roller members,

a belt means extending between said first and second roller members,

and means operatively connecting said drive shaft and said first roller for rotating said first and second roller members and said belt means,

said means for rotating said first and second roller members and said belt means including a cam Wheel rotatably mounted on said drive shaft.

13. In a delivery device for a duplicating machine having a delivery end and a drive shaft,

a first roller member operatively secured to the duplicating machine adjacent its delivery end,

a second roller member operatively secured to the duplicating machine outwardly of said first roller member and delivery end of the duplicating machine,

said first and second roller members being parallel,

a belt means extending between said first and second roller members,

means operatively connecting the drive shaft and one of said first and second roller members for rotating 7 8 said first and second roller members and said belt cam wheel and said foot member and extending means, therebetween. a sheet gripping means on the duplicating machine between said first and second roller members, References Cited y the Examine! a belt means extending between said first and second 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS Toner members 389 800 9/1888 F 271 78 X and means operatively connecting said drive shaft and said first roller for rotating said first and second 925097 6/1909 Hams et 270*58 roller members and said belt means 90179 3/1952 Johnson 271*68 X 2 629 590 2/1953 Smith 27038 said means for rotating said first and second roller 10 8 9 4/1959 h b 270 58 X members and said belt means including a spring 2 en aum loaded foot member engaging teeth on said first M HENSON WOOD JR Primar Examiner roller member, a cam wheel rotatably mounted on y said drive shaft and a link member secured to said KNOWLES, Examine!- 

1. IN A DELIVERY DEVICE FOR A DUPLICATING MACHINE HAVING A DELIVERY END AND A DRIVE SHAFT, A FIRST ROLLER MEMBER OPERATIVELY SECURED TO THE DUPLICATING MACHINE ADJACENT ITS DELIVERY END, A SECOND ROLLER MEMBER OPERATIVELY SECURED TO THE DUPLICATING MACHINE OUTWARDLY OF SAID FIRST ROLLER MEMBER AND DELIVERY END OF THE DUPLICATING MACHINE, SAID FIRST AND SECOND ROLLER MEMBERS BEING PARALLEL, A BELT MEANS EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID FIRST AND SECOND ROLLER MEMBERS, MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTING THE DRIVE SHAFT AND ONE OF FIRST AND SECOND ROLLER MEMBERS FOR ROTATING SAID FIRST AND SECOND ROLLER MEMBERS AND SAID BELT MEANS, AND A SHEET GRIPPING MEANS ON THE DUPLICATING MACHINE BETWEEN SAID FIRST AND SECOND ROLLER MEMBERS. 